Pair of Matched Chinese Collection Walnut with Bird Carving
A pair of Matched Chinese Walnut with special top like a hooked beak from bird.
Both walnuts are carved into head of baby bird. Very cute and great for home display.
Why walnut?
Once popular toys in China’s imperial court, walnuts — which when rotated in one’s palm are thought to stimulate blood circulation — are making a comeback among the wealthy, some of whom see them as not only a way to spend their cash, but also as a distinctly Chinese status symbol.
Walnut playing has 2,000 years of history in China. The trend first emerged in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) and became very popular in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Among the upper levels of society, a pair of good collectible walnuts was a symbol of taste and social rank. Many noble people collected top walnuts and gave them to members of the imperial families to show their greetings and faithfulness.
Is this the walnut used for food source?
No, this type of walnut has the thickest shell with no meat inside and is not used as food source.
Collection and value?
Similar to the fact that there are no identical snow flakes exist in nature, get two identical walnuts as pair is almost impossible. Therefore, walnut collectors are obsessed with pairs shares high similarities (pattern, height, wideness, base). In addition, like other seed like beads from nature, it will develop a shinning coating and become very smooth as you play it in your hand each day. Antique walnut has very high trading value and are perfect for artistic home decoration.
Below is a paragraph beautifully written by German Sinologist Ernst Cordes in 1937, as he come across a Chinese gentleman in Beijing who carried himself in a noble manner with a pair of walnut in his palm.
“Yes, it can function as cultivating your soul.” He repeated the phrase, while pointed his forehead as if there exists the secret of soul. “ The slow motion, the rhythm of rubbing walnuts makes one’s spirit feel relaxed and comfortable. When I feel exhausted, unhappy, and the worrisome ideas catch up with me, depriving me the rest I need, I’d always pick up this pair of walnuts. Look, I rub them in this way: tender, smoothly, slowly, with complete focuses poured onto the two walnuts. Therefore I throw out any mundane problems above the sky. When you rub the walnuts for many hours, you’d feel a slight stinging sensation on your palm. Following that, the stinging sensation would climb up to your shoulder, and finally you’d feel as if your brain is given a massage by a woman with her tender hands. This would make all your worries go away. Both your mind and body would be bathed in a limitless feeling of relief. You would feel the comforting sensation of relaxation as if you just took a hot bath. Oh this thing of walnuts is a real magic of massaging your soul ….”
Please feel free to ask me any questions.
Walnuts, Matched Pair, Owl Carving